Episode 59: The mega M&A show ft. Joe Mazumdar

Matt sits down with mining analyst Joe Mazumdar from Exploration Insights to talk about the recent surge in investment activity, namely major and/or intermediate miners participating in joint ventures, equity placements, and partnerships with explorers and junior companies. We dig into the Newmont Mining’s (NYSE: NEM) interest in Continental Gold's (TSX: CNL) fully-permitted Buritica gold project in Colombia, and its US$39.5-million investment in Goldstrike Resources (TSXV: GSR) and the Plateau gold project in the Yukon. Joe recounts his time with Newmont, and speculates on deal structures. We then hop over to Eldorado Gold's (TSX: ELD; NYSE: EGO) recent $590-million, cash-and-share bid for Integra Gold (TSXV: ICG; US-OTC: ICGQF) and its historic Lamaque project near Val-d’Or, Quebec. Is Eldorado done? Joe doesn't necessarily think so, and also says to keep an eye on Iamgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG)! We subsequently dig into geopolitical risk and wonder what other gold producers might be in the market to deploy capital. The discussion includes Sandstorm Gold (TSX: SSL; NYSE-MKT: SAND) paying an 84% premium for Mariana Resources (TSX: MRY; LON: MARL) and the high-grade Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeastern Turkey. Timeline: Newmont & Goldstrike in the Yukon: 1:33 Structuring earn-in agreements: 7:18 Sandstorm Gold buys Mariana: 7:49 Atac Resources & Barrick: 11:13 The importance of technical teams: 13:20 The stragies of gold majors: 14:40 Talking geopolitical risk: 20:00 The outlook on early-stage exploration: 23:00 Articles referenced: Eldorado eyes the Abitibi with $590M Integra deal: http://www.northernminer.com/news/eldorado-eyes-abitibi-590m-integra-deal/1003786331/ Newmont takes strategic stake in Continental Gold: http://www.northernminer.com/news/newmont-takes-strategic-stake-continental-gold/1003786186/ Sandstorm bids for Mariana: http://www.northernminer.com/news/sandstorm-bids-takeover-mariana-shares-drop/1003785879/ Barrick joins Atac at Orion in the Yukon: http://www.northernminer.com/news/atac-barrick-join-forces-yukon-explore-rackla/1003785626/ South32 takes stake in Arizona Mining: http://www.northernminer.com/news/south32-takes-stake-arizona-mining/1003785966/ South32 strikes deal with Trilogy in Alaska’s Ambler district: http://www.northernminer.com/news/trilogy-south32-team-alaskas-ambler-district/1003785470/ Yukon catches more majors’ eyes: www.northernminer.com/news/far-north…rs/1003785761/ Music Credits: "Energy Recorded" by Bensound (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/energy) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0